The Beatitudes and Eastertide: Suffering and the Resurrection, Part 2

Scripture — Matthew 5:10-12; John 11:47-48, 53 (NRSV)

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12

So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” … So from that day on they planned to put him to death. John 11:47-48, 53

Devotion

In yesterday’s devotion, I pointed to a connection between the promised resurrection to eternal life and the expectation of being persecuted for Christ’s sake. We saw this both in the Beatitudes and in Paul’s letter to the Romans (8:11-17). Jesus ends the Beatitudes by speaking of the persecution of his followers, calling blessed those persecuted for righteousness or because of Him. To them he promises not only a great reward in heaven (v. 12) but the kingdom of heaven itself (v. 10). Thus, this passage from the Beatitudes fits appropriately into the message of Easter and the resurrection.

One aspect of this persecution that has caught my attention lately is its source. Growing up in the 20th century, I’ve often been aware of the persecution of Christians by political and religious powers of other nations where Christianity is a minority religion, or which are ruled by Marxist philosophy or a belief that the Nation must be more important than God. Certainly, many Christians have suffered in those places; I once heard that more Christians were martyred for their faith in the 20th century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. It’s a sobering reality.

But in Matthew 5:12, Jesus connects persecution of his followers with the earlier persecution of the prophets, saying “in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” In reading that, we should keep in mind that the majority of Old Testament prophets were called to speak prophetically to God’s own people: the Israelites. And since their prophetic messages—calls to repent of idolatry, to tithe faithfully, to honor the sabbath, to care for the poor and the widow, and to welcome foreigners and strangers—were not popular among the political and religious rulers of their day, the persecution came from those same political and religious leaders: the priests and kings in authority over God’s people. It is ironic in a way that Jonah, the prophet most notable for being sent to a foreign country that worshiped other gods, is welcomed rather than persecuted there, and his message accepted.

Jesus’ own persecution—although it was legally upheld by the secular Roman government—also had as its source the religious and political leaders of God’s own people. There is a particularly telling moment in John’s Gospel: an Easter-type moment after Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead. The chief priests and Pharisees, who claimed to serve the God of Israel and were responsible for leading their people in their religious practice, have gathered to consider how to respond to this miracle. They reason as follows: “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” John’s narration then notes, “So from that day on they planned to put him to death.” I find it interesting that they don’t ask whether or not Jesus might actually be the Messiah, despite the fact that he has just raised somebody from the dead! Instead, their twofold concern is for: 1) a building—the temple or “holy place” where their religious activities take place and where they exercise their authority; and 2) their nation. In other words, country and outward religious practices are more important to them than actually seeking God.

No wonder they were threatened by Jesus. Theirs were attitudes Jesus opposed. Yesterday I mentioned that the way of Jesus, as we learn in the Sermon on the Mount, is the way of meekness (or gentleness), and mercy (or compassion), and making peace (which is much deeper than merely the absence of conflict, but certainly would include an eschewing of war and violence). I have heard certain church leaders dismiss this teaching of gentleness. They point out the famous scene recorded in three of the four gospels when Jesus clears the temple of money-changers (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-19; John 2:13-16). John’s telling even mentions Jesus using a whip of cords, which admittedly sounds rather ungentle. The interesting thing about this passage, though, is that Jesus’ seeming lack of gentleness is not directed at the secular world at odds with the Jewish faith. It was not, for example, directed at the Romans who were oppressing Jews because of their faith. Instead, Jesus’ powerful words and actions were directed at the Jews’ own religious leaders who were exploiting foreigners and the poor while making a profit off those seeking to worship, all in the house of God and implicitly in the name of God. No wonder the religious leaders sought to kill him.

And this brings us back to the Beatitudes. The way of Christ is indeed the way of gentleness, righteousness, mercy, and purity of heart. It is not the worldly way to power, and yet it is a powerful way to life. And this way of Christ will lead to persecution—possibly from those explicitly hostile to Christianity, but equally likely from religious and political leaders who claim to be followers of Christ, yet who are threatened by the actual message of Christ.

But as Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount, although His path will likely lead through suffering and persecution, it is also the way to the Kingdom of Heaven and the great award that awaits His disciples there. May these words be an encouragement to you.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Jesus’ Sacrifice (John 10-12).